Did Lefty, Kill Pancho?

[Vastator]

I just now googled the "Ode To Billy Joe" lyrics and yeah it says that the guy jumped, but when you really think about it, he could've been pushed too by the girl who is telling the story. She says that her mama told her the news, but if no one witnessed what happened and he was just eventually found dead, everyone may have just automatically thought that it was a suicide. Why would she want him dead? Maybe she wanted the baby, but it got discarded any way or maybe she didn't like him getting her pregnant at all.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

Maybe a pact. They tested the height by throwing something over, and they were supposed to jump together; but she didn’t...?

 

[candycorn]

I just now googled the "Ode To Billy Joe" lyrics and yeah it says that the guy jumped, but when you really think about it, he could've been pushed too by the girl who is telling the story. She says that her mama told her the news, but if no one witnessed what happened and he was just eventually found dead, everyone may have just automatically thought that it was a suicide. Why would she want him dead? Maybe she wanted the baby, but it got discarded any way or maybe she didn't like him getting her pregnant at all.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

That song is so haunting....just vocals and a guitar from what I recall.

 

[jon_berzerk]

I just now googled the "Ode To Billy Joe" lyrics and yeah it says that the guy jumped, but when you really think about it, he could've been pushed too by the girl who is telling the story. She says that her mama told her the news, but if no one witnessed what happened and he was just eventually found dead, everyone may have just automatically thought that it was a suicide. Why would she want him dead? Maybe she wanted the baby, but it got discarded any way or maybe she didn't like him getting her pregnant at all.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

to me the song seems to reflect the idea of casually we talk about someone who commits suicide

in this case around the dinner table

 

[candycorn]

One song I never quite understood was The night the lights went out in Georgia.

He was on his way home from Candletop
Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At Web's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her
Andy Wo-Lo said hello
He said, "Hi, what's new?"
And Wo said, "Sit down I got some bad news that's going to hurt"

[Verse 2]
Said, "I'm your best friend and you know that's right
But your young bride isn't home tonight
Since you've been gone she's been seeing that Amos boy, Seth"
Now he got mad and he saw red
Andy said, "Boy, don't you lose your head
Because to tell you the truth, I've been with her myself"

[Verse 3]
Andy got scared and left the bar
Walking on home because he didn't live far - you see
Andy didn't have many friends and he just lost him one
Brother thought his wife must have left town
So he went home and finally found the only thing
Daddy had left him and that was a gun

[Verse 4]
He went off to Andy's house
Slipping through the backwoods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back porch door
And he saw Andy lying on the floor
In a puddle of blood and he started to shake


The Georgia patrol was making their rounds
So he fired a shot just to flag them down
A big bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said
"Why'd you do it?"

[Verse 5]
The judge said guilty on a make-believe trial
Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile
Said supper's waiting at home and I got to get to it

[Verse 6]
Well, they hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy's house and back that night were mine
And his cheating wife had never left town
That's one body that'll never be found
You see little sister doesn't miss when she aims her gun
​

My question is that the guy who comes home from Candletop is the brother?
If so...His sister killed Andy and her sister-in-law?
And she let her brother took the fall for her two murders?

Yikes.

 

[jon_berzerk]

Another Van Zandt explanation...

Even though I love the song, sadly I can not answer what is being asked about it. Can anyone answer this question for me since were are on the subject of song lyrics? I recently paid more attention to the song named "Ode To Billy Joe" from Bobby Gentry (This song was big way before I was even thought of.) and I have wondered ever since if the boy being sung about was pushed off of that bridge. Right me if I am wrong about any of this, but Bobbie sings the song from the perspective of a person who was there at the bridge and it sounds like she admits to being the reason why he went into the water and led everyone else to think that he jumped off of that bridge all on his own. Am I right?

God bless you and Bobby always!!!

Holly

My take on it was that he got her pregnant, they threw the baby in the river, and then he committed suicide by jumping in the river.

he had several explanations

this one is the funniest

 

[Vastator]

Another Van Zandt explanation...

Even though I love the song, sadly I can not answer what is being asked about it. Can anyone answer this question for me since were are on the subject of song lyrics? I recently paid more attention to the song named "Ode To Billy Joe" from Bobby Gentry (This song was big way before I was even thought of.) and I have wondered ever since if the boy being sung about was pushed off of that bridge. Right me if I am wrong about any of this, but Bobbie sings the song from the perspective of a person who was there at the bridge and it sounds like she admits to being the reason why he went into the water and led everyone else to think that he jumped off of that bridge all on his own. Am I right?

God bless you and Bobby always!!!

Holly

My take on it was that he got her pregnant, they threw the baby in the river, and then he committed suicide by jumping in the river.

he had several explanations

this one is the funniest

The song is incredibly well written. The ability to relate so much in so few words...
Brevity is truly the soul of wit. The way the writer conveys the all too often scenario of the bad-boy child being mamas favorite, and said sons, bad boy proclivities, foreshadowing his impending demise.

“You weren't your momma's only boy
But her favorite one, it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams”
.
This last line is particularly ingenious...

 

[JOSweetHeart]

One song I never quite understood was The night the lights went out in Georgia.

He was on his way home from Candletop
Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At Web's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her
Andy Wo-Lo said hello
He said, "Hi, what's new?"
And Wo said, "Sit down I got some bad news that's going to hurt"

[Verse 2]
Said, "I'm your best friend and you know that's right
But your young bride isn't home tonight
Since you've been gone she's been seeing that Amos boy, Seth"
Now he got mad and he saw red
Andy said, "Boy, don't you lose your head
Because to tell you the truth, I've been with her myself"

[Verse 3]
Andy got scared and left the bar
Walking on home because he didn't live far - you see
Andy didn't have many friends and he just lost him one
Brother thought his wife must have left town
So he went home and finally found the only thing
Daddy had left him and that was a gun

[Verse 4]
He went off to Andy's house
Slipping through the backwoods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back porch door
And he saw Andy lying on the floor
In a puddle of blood and he started to shake


The Georgia patrol was making their rounds
So he fired a shot just to flag them down
A big bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said
"Why'd you do it?"

[Verse 5]
The judge said guilty on a make-believe trial
Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile
Said supper's waiting at home and I got to get to it

[Verse 6]
Well, they hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy's house and back that night were mine
And his cheating wife had never left town
That's one body that'll never be found
You see little sister doesn't miss when she aims her gun
​

My question is that the guy who comes home from Candletop is the brother?
If so...His sister killed Andy and her sister-in-law?
And she let her brother took the fall for her two murders?

Yikes.

This of course is the song that Reba covered and shot a video for and in the video at one point we see her running off after a man tells her to.



God bless you and Reba always!!!

Holly

 

[Marion Morrison]

The song tells you what happened @1:20-ish "No one heard" He died of dehydration.